Press release

Two of the Niagara
County Legislature's top officials announced Monday that they would
oppose the nomination of Democrat Elections Commissioner Nancy L.
Smith at Tuesday's meeting of the Niagara County Legislature
following Smith's appearance before a Legislature committee last
week.

Majority Leader
Rick Updegrove, R-Lockport, and Community Safety and Security
Committee Chairman Paul B. Wojtaszek, R-North Tonawanda, who also
serves as deputy majority leader in the Legislature's 12-member
Republican Conference, said they would vote "no" on Smith's
nomination and continue to probe the termination of a Niagara County
Board of Elections employee. Wojtaszek cited inconsistencies between
statements by Smith during a hearing conducted by the Legislature's
administration committee and written statements provided to County
Human Resources Director Peter P. Lopes prior to that hearing as
proof that Smith was not truthful in her responses to legislators'
questions.

Wojtaszek had
signaled a desire to move forward with Smith's nomination - which
has been stalled by questions surrounding her Oct. 2 termination of
Board of Elections employee Lawrence V. Soos after he publicly
opposed Democratic Party Chairman Nick Forster at that party's
organizational meeting the night before - following Smith's
appearance before the administration committee. However, a subsequent
review of materials supplied to the county's Human Resources
Department changed Wojtaszek's outlook.

"The Legislature
sought clarification from Mrs. Smith about both her reason for firing
Mr. Soos and what reasons she had provided to the Human Resources
Department at the time of Mr. Soos's termination," Wojtaszek
said. "Mrs. Smith had also provided (Lopes) a detailed written
statement citing specific reasons for Mr. Soos's termination after
Mr. Soos filed for unemployment benefits - and the reasons cited at
that time in writing were explicitly political and not related to his
job performance."

Wojtaszek said he
only learned after that Legislature hearing that Smith had provided a
different explanation to county lawmakers than was provided to Human
Resources.

"I wanted to give
Nancy Smith the benefit of the doubt in this matter," Wojtaszek
said. "At the hearing, she stated that her decision to terminate
Mr. Soos was in no way influenced by his actions at the Democratic
Party organizational meeting. However, a subsequent review of her
signed statement on file at Human Resources revealed the explanation
she offered at the administration committee hearing was diametrically
opposed to her earlier written statements. In one instance or the
other, Mrs. Smith was not truthful."

Updegrove and
Wojtaszek said they anticipate several of their colleagues will join
them in opposing Smith's nomination Tuesday.

"The public needs
to be able to trust that county government makes personnel decisions
based on merit and facts, not politics and payback," Updegrove
said. "We're still seeking the truth in this matter."